Abstract

The article deals with the issue o f educational preconditions o f gender education
formation and development in Canadian secondary schools. On the basis o f conducted
scientific and pedagogical literature analysis it has been determined that gender education has
undergone three main stages and is currently developing during its fourth, modern period.
The research is focused on different aspects o f gender education in Canadian
schools, namely the objectives, principles, methods, content and means. The transformation
dynamics o f the aforementioned gender education dimensions at each stage has been
examined. It has been concluded that the objectives o f gender education in Canadian
secondary schools have considerably evolved since 1960’s; the methods and means o f
teaching students about gender have become more versatile and relevant to the
requirements o f the present-day informational technology society; the content o f gender
education has extended its scope. The provision o f gender education in secondary
educational establishments in Canada has transformedfrom a haphazard "add women and
stir ” approach to a more consistent manner, which demands availability o f certain policies
(gender equity policy, anti-discrimination policy, safe schools policy) and codes o f conduct
in action at schools; integration o f gender equity issues into different subject courses
across the curriculum, as well as introducing separate fully-fledged courses, like
“ Women's Studies ", “M en's Studies ”, “Gender Studies